


How to Cheer Robin Up

by TheSecondBatgirl



Category: DCU, Young Justice
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-14
Updated: 2010-02-14
Packaged: 2017-10-07 06:21:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/62289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSecondBatgirl/pseuds/TheSecondBatgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The thing about Robin was that he was just too serious.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How to Cheer Robin Up

_How to cheer Robin up, by Impulse (Age ~~four~~ 14)_

The thing about Robin was that he was just too serious. Bart knew that he had to be serious, since he lived with Batman, and Batman would probably eat him or something if Tim wasn't absolutely perfect. But Tim didn't have to be so unhappy all of the time. There had to be a way to make Tim happy.

He thought about it for a while. Carol had just made him watch a movie that had a list of favorite things that were supposed to cheer you up when you were feeling sad, but he didn't really know how he would possibly get some raindrops on roses, and if he was supposed to get whiskers on kittens did you have to get the whole cat too because he didn't really think that anyone should try and cut the whiskers off the kittens because they wouldn't like it very much. And Max's pots weren't made of copper, so the song probably wouldn't help him much.

The other song had said to think about tomorrow, but tomorrow was really far away, and Tim needed to be cheered up _now_. Maybe what Tim needed was a pet. Bart had Dox, and Dox always made him feel better! Maybe he could let Tim borrow Dox, but then Tim would be even sadder when he had to give Dox up. Dox was good like that, and Bart wouldn't ever get rid of him.

He really did think that Tim needed a puppy. He was going to recruit someone else to help.

*

"I don't think that getting Tim a puppy would be a good idea," Cissie told him after he had found her. "Do you really think that Batman would let him have a puppy?"

"Oh," Bart pouted. He hadn't thought of that. Batman probably didn't like dogs. They were too cheerful. "But puppies cheer everyone up!" Maybe a dog would cheer Batman up!

"Maybe you should just have Kon make puppy dog eyes at him or something," Cissie said with a shrug. "He's good at that."

*

"Wait, why am I dressed up as a puppy?" Kon asked. "How is this going to help Robbie's case?"

"It's important!" Bart told him earnestly. "Even Cissie said so!"

"What does she have to do with this?" Kon asked suspiciously.

"She said you were the best at making puppy dog eyes!" Bart said, not really sure what Kon was worried about.

"So this isn't for Tim's case?"

"It's to make him cheer up!" Bart said. "You just have to go and make puppy dog eyes and then he'll be happier even with Batman being all crazy!"

Kon paused. "I'm sure that this makes sense in some universe, but maybe not this one."

Still, he didn't complain that much as Bart picked him up and ran to Gotham.

*

_How to cheer Robin up, by ~~Impulse~~ Kid Flash (Age ~~5~~ 15)_

"Are you okay?" Bart asked as he sat down on the couch next to Tim. "You've been quiet lately, and I read in a book that with everything you've gone through that your friends should be here to talk to you."

"I'm fine," Tim said, not meeting his eyes.

"Are you sure?" Bart asked. "Because everyone totally understands that you've been under a lot of stress with Spoiler and your dad and you know that we all love you and we just want to take care of you and things."

"I'm fine," Tim repeated.

"The books I read said that you're supposed to talk about it, or you could get all bottled up inside," Bart said, trying to help. If he tried to slow down maybe he could make it make more sense for Tim, or he could help Tim see it better. Slowing down was hard, but if it would help, then he would do it.

"I'm fine," Tim said, and there was almost a smile on his face. "You're here, and that's helping."

Bart guessed that this was a good start, so he would sit down on the couch with Tim for as long as he needed, even if it meant having to be slow for a while.

*

_How to cheer Robin up, by ~~Impulse~~ ~~Kid Flash~~ ~~Flash~~ Kid Flash (Age ~~6~~ ~~16~~ ~~21~~ ?????)_

"Tim," Bart said, after he finally found Robin in Budapest. He didn't know why Tim was in Budapest, or why he wasn't wearing the right costume. He didn't look like Bart's Robin. But he definitely looked like he needed Bart.

"It's Red Robin," Tim said. "What do you want, Kid Flash?"

"I came to cheer you up," Bart said. "We're all back now – me, and Kon, and even Spoiler. So I thought that maybe you needed to be reminded."

"Not everyone is back," Tim said coldly.

"Well, yeah," Bart admitted. "But Tim, I don't think that Batman, or your dad, would want you to be isolating yourself like this. Everyone is all worried about you."

"Did _he_ send you?" Tim asked coldly.

"Nightwing? Nah, I came myself. I thought you could use a friend." Bart searched Tim's eyes under that cowl to see if there was anything of his friend under there, but he wondered if the time he had been dead or in the future or whatever it had been. "But maybe I should have just dressed Kon up as a puppy again."

Just for a second, a ghost of a smile appeared on Tim's face, and Bart grinned. "That's the Tim I know," he said. "I don't want to lose that Tim again."

"I… don't want to lose you either," Tim admitted. "You've got to understand, that's why I'm doing this. I can't lose anyone else."

"I don't understand, and I don't really care why you think you're doing it," Bart said. "Because you aren't allowed to push us away. We're your friends, and we're here for you." He walked, the slowest he'd ever forced himself to be, and deliberately pressed his lips against Tim's. "We won't let you anyway."


End file.
